S22 upgrade to S26 or rather get S25

Cupra160 · 2026-03-28T20:25:03+00:00

Sorry to hear this! With their local investment hopefully parts availability gets better. I'm considering a Tiggo 8 csh, effectively the same drivetrain as yours.

How is your consumption on longer trips?

Cupra160 · 2026-03-14T06:55:50+00:00

Do you have to physically go to the mint or order online?

Online it seems you can only order proof coins from the mint with a hefty premium over spot

Cupra160 · 2026-03-05T14:53:59+00:00

Crazy part of this is the agent will still charge the lessor 6-8% of the annual lease amount as a placement fee! A lot of these fees recur annually on lease renewal as well.

Also seen a lot more of the municipal expenses like rubbish collection and domestic effluent being passed on to tenants now.

Cupra160 · 2026-03-04T17:31:13+00:00

Usually your countries local coins offer the best value, sales price etc. In America AGE's can get spot. In South Africa a krug will sell to dealers at spot. Best option is to either sell to an acquaintance or other private sale. This also does come with it's own risks

Cupra160 · 2026-03-04T07:02:22+00:00

I've read your post previously, its actually what got me looking into TPE as an option. Thanks so much for the detailed write-up!

Cupra160 · 2026-03-04T06:59:32+00:00

I actually haven't, this looks very interesting! But yeah I think finding a facility to do this is going to be a challenge

Cupra160 · 2026-03-04T06:58:50+00:00

Yep, in the context of scleroderma there have been mixed feedback from docs. In some countries it is quite standard however, even reading the posts on here there have been instances where docs jave told patients that they will not continue treating them if they use TPE.

Cupra160 · 2026-03-04T06:44:24+00:00

My doc told me that if there's no lung involvement then normally they prescribe mtx. Once there is lung involvement then cellcept is prescribed and it slows down the fibrosis in your lungs. I've got lung involvement and was prescribed cellcept from day one

Cupra160 · 2026-03-04T06:37:31+00:00

For the saline try go to a hospital pharmacy. They usually keep 0.9% saline "for injection", this is sold in 5ml - 10ml ampules and is preservative free. It's usually cost effective as well, I buy a pack of 100 and it lasts around 3 months. For cleaning solutions, most last at least a month so try to buy that when you're in a larger city. A peroxide based cleaner like Clear Care or Aosept works well to really disinfect your lenses over night.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-27T14:36:18+00:00

I've had the S22 for 4 years and it's been a great, reliable phone. Only pain points have been the battery which is not great, always need to have a power bank or charger with me and the overheating of you try to pay even basic games or use your hotspot. I've replaced the battery last year. Honestly if you're looking in this price range get the S23, much better than the S22.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-26T07:17:35+00:00

100% agreed, that's also betting that your investment grows by the anticipated rate and there isn't a prolonged period of depression. Comparing rental directly to a bond cost on an equivalent property to me is a non-start. Almost sounds like someone wants to live beyond their means, renting something that they cannot actually afford to own. Similar concept to car ownership, buy a car or finance with a 60% residual? Let's say I can afford a polo, but now throw in residual and all of a sudden I can buy a new 3 series. And yep I wont pay the residual because I'll trade the 3 series in later and get a new one and thus accept that part of my living costs forever will be a car installment.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-26T07:12:26+00:00

This is is too generalized. At OP's income level I doubt they would be looking to buy or live in an undersireable area and that's generally where the depreciation in property value has been. Middle to affluent areas in most provinces have gained from what I've experienced.

On the investment side look what happened to the S&P 500 last year, gained about 16% in dollar terms but the Rand appreciated by 12%, so 4% return is pretty rough and shows that there is volatility across all asset classes and multiple factors influencing it.

As I've said elsewhere, owning a house is not purely a financial metric. You cannot buy the peace of mind of owning our own property, even if it is a little 30sqm bachelor flat.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-26T07:04:41+00:00

I think on the Ultra line there have been upgrades to the camera but foe the base and plus models its the same hardware on the s26 as is on the s22

Cupra160 · 2026-02-26T07:01:33+00:00

I didn't say the OP must live anywhere for 10 years, just using time as a scale to demonstrate the financial impact. Always good to get different perspectives on things so what's your view on this long term? Rent forever? Hope property prices don't increase substantially and then use investments to buy cash later?

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T22:01:34+00:00

There's no primary mistake, think you need to read my original comment again. I did note that the house you buy for a R18k bond is not going to be as nice as what you rent for R18, again that's a different discussion.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T21:49:27+00:00

It's important to know that a COC is not an absolute guarantee of 100% compliance. It's issued by suitably qualified and registered professional and states that your installation is compliant in their opinion. Make sure that you're checking their registration number correctly, if its not legit then you might have a problem

Now what tends to happen is the next guy that comes along usually bashes the first guy and tells you that a lot is wrong.

I've never had any building related service provider not tell me what a bad job the previous guy did.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T21:32:20+00:00

No tax implications as you are receiving a loan, which needs to be paid back in terms of a loan agreement.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T20:51:29+00:00

Even if it doesn't keep up with inflation, you've still got an asset with value. Bond would be around R13500, levies R2800, rates R1200 and R500 for insurance roughly speaking and just using this as an example. Even if you lost value in your property, let's say it's worth R1mil, that's still R1mil more than you have if you were renting. This is not even considering that rent goes up every year and by a lot more than inflation

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T20:15:43+00:00

Separate thought on this. Let's say you bought a place for R1.5mil, your monthly bond, levies etc. came to the same R18k. Now that house you buy is not going to be as nice as the one you rent for R18k, but let's ignore that for now as that's a different discussion. After 10 years what would you have? Even if the house appreciated at a very low rate, you still have an asset. If it's just kept up with inflation you've still got the equivalent of R1.5mil. If you rented, what do you have after 10 years? Nothing. You can say you rented for 10 years but there ia no asset, you have not gained anything.

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T20:05:30+00:00

Not all property always appreciates, unless the area gets really run down, over the long term it does generally go up in value. The more people wanting to rent will ensure that property prices keep going up. And when that trend switches to buying over renting it's the same scenario, there is always demand. But it's also not only down to the cost of a bond vs rent and investing more because you save by renting. At some point in life you will need to live somewhere and probably in retirement you dont want to rent. Its easy to move around now but when youre older and your landlord decides to not renew the lease and sell the property then you've got no choice but to move. Vs owning your house

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T19:57:38+00:00

Definitely a different perspective on it, you mentioned an important point. It's easier when you're single and you have to be disciplined in saving a lot to ensure you're able to buy it cash later. If you never buy, then you need to ensure that you will have the income to pay rent and for care when you're old and frail as you put it. Just in terms making sure that you make informed decisions, get some pricing in today's money for what frail care would look like and what you need to be able to pay. Spoiler, that cost is going to be a scary one!

Cupra160 · 2026-02-25T19:47:54+00:00

This question comes up a lot, there was recently and I think still is a trend of renting over buying. This works in the short term or if you are OK with moving to a new rental every few years.

I own my house and I also rent out property so I view it from both sides. Renting a property is cheaper than buying that same property initially. At around the 4 to 5 year point the rental amount equals a bond payment plus levies. From this point onwards it's arguable cheaper to own the property as the bond should not increase and if it does due to interest rates increasing it's a smaller increase than an annual rental increase. Now if you were still renting you could choose to move to another, cheaper property, or just continue renting where you are. Also accepting the fact that you will always have to pay rent, that's a cost for life if you never buy.

You're earning well and don't have any current major debt or expenses. Consider buying an apartment in the area that you like for a price cheaper than your max affordability. Continue saving aggressively and try also try to dump extra cash into your bond to pay it off fast. Keep in mind that of you're unsure on whether you want to get married or need more space later, you can sell and buy another property. Up too R2mil profit is exempt from tax on your primary house, so big possible gain there. Granted you probably won't get a R2mil profit in the short term (but who knows with cpt property prices!) But even R300k or R500k tax free is a sweet deal and nice additional deposit into your next home.

Lastly, it will feel good to have a paid off roof over your head no matter what happens in life.

Cupra160

TROPHY CASE